Humbled

Have you ever heard a keynote speaker introduced, and they tell all the stuff that he's done and build him up, and then he gets up and says "Well, I'm really humbled by that introduction/by your applause" or something like that? I've heard it a dozen times, and it comes across quite fake more often then not. But, for the first time that I can recall, I know what they mean. Recently I was honored in front of a group of friends, not in a "build-up-the-speaker" sort of way, just casually (which made it all the more sincere and touching), and the effect on me was of feeling humbled. Not humiliated - far from it, people were complimenting me - but humbled, and I really can't explain how someone saying good things about you makes you feel smaller, less powerful, less arrogant. As a guy who struggles with pride, compliments usually have the opposite effect on me, but this was quite different and very refreshing. I can truly say that by no doing of my own, God has given me favor with my peers, and the respect I apparently command in some circles is not of my own doing.

OK, so this is an odd post... I hope you all look at it in the best possible light, because I'm tired out from a great game of frisbee and exhausted by the heat (92 degrees and humid!), so my writing and thought processes aren't what they should be.